Batting 1000
by goldencompass
Summary: A Missing Scene from the Rainy Day Women.


RAINY DAY WOMEN OCMSFC

They sat and talked in the car so long that by the time they pulled out from the bus stop the rain had stopped. Well, mostly he had talked and Kirsten had listened with a vaguely disbelieving look on her face. The ride home had been filled with silence. He had said all he could, apologized, and she accepted quietly and started the car. The sound of the engine revving to life seemed like a sign that now was a good time to shut up.

By the time they walked in the door he was eternally grateful for the sound of Seth rambling, puncuated by Summer giggling. _Summer? _He'd have to check in with Seth a bit later about that development – his own love life was the priority over his teenage son's at the moment.

"Honey," he turned towards Kirsten as she stepped out of her coat, trying not to notice the ever so tiny roll of her eyes when she heard the pet name. "We've been in that cold car for a while, I'm thinking of making some coffee – you want some?"

She smiled. Well, it could be interpreted as a smirk or grimace, but Sandy chose to believe it was a smile. "Sure, I'd love some. Thank you."

_Victory!_ He thought to himself, mentally raising his arms up in a V. He threw some coffee in the pot and made sure not to make it as strong as he normally liked, bowing to Kirsten's preferance this time. Looking up as the coffee dripped, he spotted the dark figure huddled on one of the lawn chairs by the pool house doors. _Why the heck is he sitting there soaking wet? Go change, kid, you're gonna catch pneumonia! _

Sandy watched Ryan for another few seconds, as if expecting him to follow the mental command. When instead Ryan settled more firmly into the chair, Sandy got up and made his way through the yard to where Ryan was sitting – now with his knees up against his chest, almost in a ball.

"Ryan! What are you doing out here, sitting soaking wet? Go inside kiddo, and get changed."

A soggy-headed Ryan looked up from his knees to not quite meet Sandy's eyes. "I didn't want to get water all over the poolhouse."

"What? This from the kid who had a silly string fight with Seth in there? You haven't been that shy around here since your first day here." That's when Sandy's mouth caught up to his brain. _Oh. This is not good._ "Ryan, what's wrong?" he asked quietly.

"Lindsay's leaving. Moving to Chicago with her mom."

Sandy's heart fell into his stomach when he heard the words, and even further when he realized Kirsten was approaching with a two coffees, and was close enough to hear those last words. She made a face of surprise quickly, but feeling Sandy's eyes on her, motioned to Ryan with her chin.

_At least we still have our unspoken communication_, Sandy thought. Crouching down in front of Ryan he brought his hand to Ryan's chin so that the boy would look him in the eye. "I'm really sorry to hear that Ryan – she's become important to you, hasn't she?"

Ryan's voice turned falsely gruff and he tried to turn away. "Yeah well, one more important person, one more person to go away. I'm batting .100." Sandy held him there, keeping his eye's on Ryan. He smiled and half-joked,

"That tough-guy act doesn't work on me kid, I'm a pro with that one. You tried that the first day we met and I didn't buy it then. Not buying it now." He took a deep breath and bulldozed on. "I know you're hurting Ryan, and with really good reason. I know you don't like to talk about it, but this has got to hit a tender spot for you. You know I'm here, Kirsten's here, if you need to talk."

This time Ryan succeeded in turning away from them, and he quietly said, "Yeah, for now."

That caused Sandy to stare in surprise, and from the corner of his eye he saw Kirsten flinch, as if she'd been hit. _He doubts that we'll be there? I thought he'd learned to trust us? Have we read him so wrong that we didn't see it?_ Gathering himself Sandy asked Ryan,

"You think we're going somewhere? I thought I told you, you're a part of this family now – for good."

Ryan closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Sandy couldn't be sure what were tears and what was rain, as tiny drops of water coursed down Ryan's cheeks. "Yeah, I know. But will there be any family left to be a part of? You're gonna leave, Sandy, I can see it. I've seen it before. You two are fighting, and you're always gone, and Kirsten's shut up in the bedroom more. I know there's something going on."

Sandy thought he heard Ryan's voice crack on that last, and he knew he had to be honest. This wasn't like it would be with Seth. Seth would ask him, and wait for the blind reassurance that he would give him automatically. Seth eyes would say /Just tell me it's ok. If you say it's ok, I'll believe you and I'll feel better, because you're Dad./ With Ryan it was so different. Ryan didn't approach the need to be reassured so openly. He didn't automatically believe the adults in his life would make it all better. But that didn't mean he didn't **want** to believe it, didn't **want** to hear it.

"Ryan, there have been some issues, but we're working it out. It's something that you boys don't need to worry about. Let the parents take care of this one. Just trust me when I say that there is nothing that would be worth walking away from you, son. Not you or Seth or Kirsten." At this, he gave his wife a meaningful look, and then met Ryan's eyes.

Ryan nodded quietly, and didn't look away.

"Ryan?" Kirsten stepped in, still bearing coffee. "Here, why don't you drink this and go change. When you're done come into the house, I'll call Renee and maybe we can make plans for a first visit up to Chicago to visit. How does that sound?"

Ryan unfolded himself from the chair and stood, grasping the coffee and drinking from it like it was a miracle drink. Wiping the dampness from his face with his free hand he gave them both a small smile.

"That's sounds good." and quieter still, "thanks guys."


End file.
